History of Cobourg Lawn Bowling Club

The ClubOn April 19th 1907 Cobourg Horticultural Society recommended the establishment of a bowling green east of the Elms where the old drill shed was located in Victoria Park and on April 26th less than 7 people met to organize a club. A meeting was arranged for April 29th when a large group met to decide where the grounds should be. The Treasurer, Mr Jones favoured Victoria Park. A committee was formed as follows: President - J E Skidmore; Vice President - Stanley Barr; Treasurer - G E Jones; Secretary - G S Chatterton; Committee - E W Hargroft, J D Hayden and James Bulger. There were 68 members. The Executive Committee was authorized to decide the location of the green and they chose Victoria Park. There was no club house at that time. The membership fee was $4 which included the use of the bowls which were kept in a long wooden box by the fence. Four rinks were enclosed by a chicken wire fence and the green was lit by a string of gas jets each way. The caretaker was paid the handsome amount of $40 for the season. In 1908 ladies were invited to join at a fee of $8 with bowls supplied and 21 did so. Ladies were allowed to bowl every morning and evening unless a tournament was being played. A league was set up to include Bowmanville, Colborne, Oshawa and Port Hope. Whitby later replaced Colborne. Only singles and fours were played.
The 1909 season opened on June 21st
with the men’s and ladies sections being run separately. The ladies section
chose Miss Eyre as their President. The men’s and ladies sections would
continue to be run separately until 1988.

This photo is thought to date from around 1915/16 and was one of a series of Victoria Park which were published as post cards. The boundary fence of the lawn bowling green was chicken wire and the lighting was gas jets.

The archives record a number of large tournaments held during each season in the 1920s including an event in 1925 where it is recorded that 116 bowlers were in town for the annual tournament (but the nature of the tournament is not specified). It is possible that the reference was to a tournament between Cobourg and the CPR Recreation Club as the club has a couple of photos taken of CPR events that appear to be different occasions. This photo is dated August 1925 and is titled "Cobourg and West Toronto Clubs"The club house was built in 1925 and this was probably the first photograph taken after it was built that year. Further information about the development of the club house can be found in the section below.
By 1936 membership had fallen to 35 members
and funds were very low so it is surprising to find that in 1937 it was decided
to build an addition to the club house at
a cost of $2,500. In 1941 it was recorded that doubles play
started. Up to that point play had still been singles or fours. There would be
no further changes until 1957 when trebles were introduced in place of fours.In 1952 fees were increased to $9 and that
included the use of a locker. This
appears to be the first time fees had increased for a number of years but after such a long
period without increases the fees went up again in 1956 to $12 and again in
1960 to $15. By 1980 they had increased to $35and to $65 by 1992. There followed
relatively large increases over the following years to $100 by 1996 and $120 in
2000.
On September 4th 1982 the club celebrated its 75th anniversary with the first Anniversary Tournament (the tradition of holding an anniversary tournament continues to this day). The winning team was Gord King, Carol Knapper and Peggy Lascelle.

In 1990 Dorothy and Paul Allen formed the club’s junior section which has proved very successful and continues to this day.

The club celebrated its centenary in 2007 with a tournament, dinner and entertainment at the Legion. Also about that time there were discussions with the Town about possibly moving the club from its Victoria Park location to the planned new Cobourg Community Centre. However, that came to nought and the club remains an integral part of Victoria Park and the waterfront area of Cobourg.

In 2017 the club celebrated 110 years in Victoria Park with the traditional anniversary tournament followed by a celebratory dinner at the Mill restaurant. Pictured are Past President, Steve Haslam, Vice President Carol Dewey and President Nan Hendren with an OLBA plaque commemorating the occasion.

The Club House
At the 1923 AGM there was discussion about
erecting a clubhouse. A committee was formed to solicit subscriptions but
membership had declined and it was hoped that when membership increased to 60 a
club house could be erected. In 1924 the tennis club contributed $500 and CLBC
borrowed $1000 from Victoria and Grey for the building of a club house. The loan was repaid by July
23rd 1925.
The specification was for a simple frame
cottage; large gauge shiplap siding; a
centre door with small single sash windows either side; the roof was extended
over a porch to the south with square wood columns supporting the overhang (all
sounds familiar). At an added cost of $525 a substantial fence and dome lights
were added.In 1937 it was decided to build an addition
to the club house at a cost of $2,500. Another front door, side windows and extension of the porch overhang were
built. The addition doubled the size and the result was essentially the club house
as it is at present. There are no further records of changes but
in 1961 a new roof was put on the club house at
a cost of $800 and then in 1981
it is recorded that the roof was patched and that there was a special levy of
$10 per member to pay for it. In 1983 a small shed was put on the North West
end.

Until 1947 the tennis club still had an
involvement with the lawn bowling club but for whatever reason the then CLBC
President, Mr Holland, wrote to the tennis club President suggesting that they
had relinquished their involvement in the CLBC as they had left and made no
further contributions. That suggestion was apparently accepted.

Club house photo taken sometime between 1925 and 1937.

Photo taken in late thirties/early forties after the addition to the club house.

The Greens and the Grounds
When the club was founded there were four rinks
and in 1909 another four rinks were added to the north of the existing rinks.
It is thought that this forms the basis of the 8 rinks of today’s south green. In September 1914 the Town council granted land to the
East to square off the plot. Unlike the club house, which is owned by the club
the land is leased from the Town.
In 1928 drains were laid round the club
house. In 1929 the Town granted land for 3 more greens at a cost of $1,000.
There is little record of development of the greens and grounds until 1952 when the club borrowed an unspecified
sum to pay for new lights. In 1961 the
east end of the greens was re-sodded at a cost of $505 and in 1973 two hundred
yards of turf was bought from a golf club for further refurbishment. In 1975 the club received a New Horizons for Seniors grant of $4745.65 for new lighting on both greens and in 1976/77 a new sprinkler system was installed
with a grant of $4418.72.
By 2001 the light standards were declared
dangerous and new lights were installed early in 2003. The total cost was $29,835 and a Trillium grant was received of
$25,000 towards the cost. In 2002 the
sprinkler system was replaced and a new control system installed at a cost of
$6744.
In 2012 much of the greenskeeping machinery
was replaced following a New Horizons for Seniors grant of $16,000. This
allowed the club to purchase a second mower, a polisher/roller, a new
Verticutter, a compressor and other minor pieces of equipment.

Some Notable Members
There are many familiar and notable names
that appear in club records and on the numerous trophies in the club house. Too
many to mention here and apologies to the many who have made significant
contributions to the club but are not mentioned.

Victor Foxhall is pictured here with Helen Cane after they had won the Ontario mixed pairs title in 1987.

Vic was an English singles champion in 1951 and he became a member at Cobourg in 1955. He held many positions in the club as well as at District and Provincial levels. He was President of the Ontario Lawn Bowling Association in 1974 and in 1975 he received a special achievement award from the Government of Ontario. Vic won 3 gold medals at the first Canada Summer Games and was successful in tournaments at provincial, district and club level.

Vic's son, Martin is also a Cobourg member and has followed in his father’s footsteps and enjoyed success at all levels, most recently as a member of the Ontario Fours team which won silver at the 2017 Canadian National Championships in Victoria BC.

The Milligan family have long been associated with lawn bowling and the Cobourg club.

Ron and Trudy Milligan were members for many years and their children, Dan and Sharyl Ann are current members. Dan has won many awards in the Ontario games, as a member of the Canadian National team and in the Commonwealth games. In 1994 Dan and Sharyl Ann were at the Commonwealth games in Victoria BC, Dan as a coach and Sharyl Ann as an umpire.

Sharyl Ann was also a member of the Canadian national team and in the 1990s represented Canada in New Zealand and Scotland. Sharyl Ann is currently the Ontario representative on the (Umpires) National Officiating Committee and still finds time to run the successful Cobourg junior program as well as being a member of the Executive Committee. Dan runs his own business, MVP Sports which supplies bowls and equipment throughout Canada.

Although no longer members Jim and Ruth Gordon have contributed much to the club over the years in bowling and serving on the Executive Committee, including a number of terms as President. Jim continues to support the club through sponsorship of the Open Men’s Pairs tournament.

Doug and Muriel Moore have also been long time members of the club. Unfortunately they had to give up bowling a few years ago but were made honorary members. Doug, who looked after the greens for many years died in 2014. Muriel, together with her sister Doris ( a past President) served the club in many ways over the years.

Alma McKendrick was the last President of the Ladies club in 1987. Alma has served the club in many capacities. Unfortunately Alma has now had to retire from bowling.

The names Carol and Harry Knapper can be found on many trophies and in many photos in the club house. Although Carol was not able to bowl in 2013 she remained a full member of the club and was often on the veranda watching the action. Both Carol and Harry have been active in the club serving on the Executive Committee in different capacities over the years and Carol will be missed following her death in December 2013.

More recently siblings Ben and Baylee van Steijn have enjoyed major success at junior level. Ben has twice won the Ontario gold medal and Baylee won Ontario bronze and silver at the Canadian junior championships.

Dan Milligan

Sharyl Ann Milligan

The Club Crest and Pin

In 1974 a proposal was made by the Ladies section that the club should have its own Pin. The Ladies President at that time was Jean Rutherford and she took on the task of designing the Pin. The centrepiece of the design is a white rose which was the flower of the Cobourg Centennial. In 1994 the then club secretary, Shirley Fraser, initiated the production of a club crest, based on the pin, which was available for members to purchase, either as an individual crest or directly sown on to shirts and jackets.

As part of the 110th anniversary celebrations it was decided that the logo should be updated to a more modern style. However the Executive Committee wanted to retain the traditional Cobourg white rose. After much discussion and refinement the new logo, as shown below, was introduced in 2017.